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RockyDad · 08-16-2016, 12:18 PM

Hi everyone, I apologize in advance if this topic has been discussed before. I haven't had a chance to do a proper forum search yet, but I will.

I have a 7.5month old Yorkie named Rocky, who has been itching here and there ever since we got him. His scratching never really bothered us before but a few days ago we noticed that his scratching caused his muzzle area to loose some hair and he developed a scrape there. So we took him to the vet, he prescribed an antibiotic Amoxicillin, because the night before he was scratching that area and it looked swollen and maybe had a yellow puss like discharge around one of his whiskers.
He’s been scratching that area before for a few months and usually cries every time he scratches there but it never had a scrape before. We always thought it was his baby canine teeth that are still there, along with his adult canine teeth that are causing his gums to itch and causing him to scratch, since we plan on removing those teeth with his neutering at the end of the month we didn’t think anything of it.
Anyway, the Vet thought to treat foliculitis with amoxicillin which is fine, he also recommended we try children’s Benadryl. The dose for Rocky was 3ml of it twice a day. I am not a huge fan of giving him Benadryl in the first place because of the side effects, mainly being drowsy and feeling drunk. But Rocky refuses to drink this stuff and forcing such a large volume down his throat makes him gag and I feel like I am water boarding my dog. So I refuse to do it. We are now trying natural things. We saw on Dr. Karen Becker’s facebook page about apple cider vinegar mixture with green tea spray to reduce itching. And we’re trying that right now, along with omega3 fatty acids, but still Rocky runs away from me every time I get the spray bottle and I feel like I am torturing him doing this 4 times a day.
Personally, I don’t think his itching is that bad. He itches maybe once an hour or two. Mostly behind his ears, sometimes he bites his front paws, sometimes he bites his back legs. This winter we were concerned with his itching and our groomer and the vet said Rocky had dry skin, even though he never had dandruff/flakes so we were doing omega3 supplements on top of his regular food Orijen Puppy which is high in Omega3’s already. I don’t think that really helped and he didn’t really want to eat it so we kind of stopped doing it and ignored his itching. Now he continues to itch, the groomer and vet aren’t saying that he has dry skin anymore. A month ago Rocky had dirty ears and was scratching his ears so the vet did an ear swab and saw yeast so she prescribed antibiotic ear drops which we did. This was probably the wrong treatment for yeast infection but I wasn’t going to argue with the Vet about that. He’s been checked for fleas, and ear mites and both are negative. We use Revolution Flea Medicine. I guess I need to be cleaning his ears more but they don’t seem super dirty to me.

Anyway, my questions are 1) is scratching once an hour or two, too much scratching? His skin is not red, irritated, he doesn’t have patches of hair missing.
2) Has anyone tried these holistic methods and have they worked? Anything else I can try?
3) Should I be force feeding my dog Benadryl because in the long run it can make him feel better? If so, any tips or tricks about giving it to him? It’s cherry flavored.

I personally wouldn’t think anything of his itching if it wasn’t for that scrape on his face. I know allergies are big thing but, he’s not constantly itching like I think some dogs do with allergies.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Rocky’s Dad.

08-16-2016, 12:18 PM	#1
RockyDad Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Aug 2016 Location: Michigan Posts: 38	Help with Itching. Hi everyone, I apologize in advance if this topic has been discussed before. I haven't had a chance to do a proper forum search yet, but I will. I have a 7.5month old Yorkie named Rocky, who has been itching here and there ever since we got him. His scratching never really bothered us before but a few days ago we noticed that his scratching caused his muzzle area to loose some hair and he developed a scrape there. So we took him to the vet, he prescribed an antibiotic Amoxicillin, because the night before he was scratching that area and it looked swollen and maybe had a yellow puss like discharge around one of his whiskers. He’s been scratching that area before for a few months and usually cries every time he scratches there but it never had a scrape before. We always thought it was his baby canine teeth that are still there, along with his adult canine teeth that are causing his gums to itch and causing him to scratch, since we plan on removing those teeth with his neutering at the end of the month we didn’t think anything of it. Anyway, the Vet thought to treat foliculitis with amoxicillin which is fine, he also recommended we try children’s Benadryl. The dose for Rocky was 3ml of it twice a day. I am not a huge fan of giving him Benadryl in the first place because of the side effects, mainly being drowsy and feeling drunk. But Rocky refuses to drink this stuff and forcing such a large volume down his throat makes him gag and I feel like I am water boarding my dog. So I refuse to do it. We are now trying natural things. We saw on Dr. Karen Becker’s facebook page about apple cider vinegar mixture with green tea spray to reduce itching. And we’re trying that right now, along with omega3 fatty acids, but still Rocky runs away from me every time I get the spray bottle and I feel like I am torturing him doing this 4 times a day. Personally, I don’t think his itching is that bad. He itches maybe once an hour or two. Mostly behind his ears, sometimes he bites his front paws, sometimes he bites his back legs. This winter we were concerned with his itching and our groomer and the vet said Rocky had dry skin, even though he never had dandruff/flakes so we were doing omega3 supplements on top of his regular food Orijen Puppy which is high in Omega3’s already. I don’t think that really helped and he didn’t really want to eat it so we kind of stopped doing it and ignored his itching. Now he continues to itch, the groomer and vet aren’t saying that he has dry skin anymore. A month ago Rocky had dirty ears and was scratching his ears so the vet did an ear swab and saw yeast so she prescribed antibiotic ear drops which we did. This was probably the wrong treatment for yeast infection but I wasn’t going to argue with the Vet about that. He’s been checked for fleas, and ear mites and both are negative. We use Revolution Flea Medicine. I guess I need to be cleaning his ears more but they don’t seem super dirty to me. Anyway, my questions are 1) is scratching once an hour or two, too much scratching? His skin is not red, irritated, he doesn’t have patches of hair missing. 2) Has anyone tried these holistic methods and have they worked? Anything else I can try? 3) Should I be force feeding my dog Benadryl because in the long run it can make him feel better? If so, any tips or tricks about giving it to him? It’s cherry flavored. I personally wouldn’t think anything of his itching if it wasn’t for that scrape on his face. I know allergies are big thing but, he’s not constantly itching like I think some dogs do with allergies. Thank you in advance for your help. Rocky’s Dad.